Bald Rock NP

[ofuros]

I usually drop into this lovely secluded camp area, to break up my return journey, after flyfishing for trout in & around Armidale in NSW.
Never climbed it....so I thought I'd better make an effort & climb this Ayers Rock of NSW's.

There's 2 routes to the summit, long & short. I chose the short, steep route as I had arrived late & the sun was rapidly sinking in the west.

Here we go...start of the climb.



Just follow the round white markers....easy peasy.



There's a lovely small patch of forest & boulders just before the summit.



View N/east....Mt Lindsay far off into the distance, to the right.
To the west...great views over Girraween (not pictured)



Summit cairn....log book...leave an entry if you wish.
Nice spot to give the ol' ticker a breather, bite to eat & take in the 360 views.



You can either return the same way or via the longer forest route.

......or if your feeling adventurous there's a nice large crack line on the western side, holding ground for small gnarly gums & low stunted bushes,
that heads all the way down to the base, from there its just 50m through the bush to a fire trail that leads back to the camp ground.
Good dry rock & good grippy soles on your boots are a must. It's steep.
Next time I'd probably do the climb in reverse....head up via the crack.



Music was blaring & 5 large camper vans had just rolled into the campground as I was unshouldering my pack....so I headed for northward for a quieter spot.
Great little walk & a great little campground, usually.....one of my favourites.

[camusunary_ben]

This was the first thing (not sure if it counts as a hill) I ever walked up in NSW. And a bit of New England trout fishing is high on my to-do list as well. Thanks for the reminder.

[ofuros]

You'll have to wait until next season now, ben....the trout season has just closed.
For us stream fishers, its nail biting time.

[camusunary_ben]

You'll have to wait until next season now, ben....the trout season has just closed.
For us stream fishers, its nail biting time.

That's all to the good because I'm putting some gear together and don't even have a reel yet. And hitting spawners in a lake just isn't on.... I'm still shocked that it's considered OK to catch trout on bait over here.

[Softy]

I reccomend going up the long way some time - there is some excellent scenery on the way - walking through some boulder archways etc. i normally go up the long way (takes about 40 minutes) then come back down the steep face to make it more of a circuit and see as much as possible. I will look for that crack line next time i am there and give it a go if i feel confident enough.

[ofuros]

Will get to it, softy.
There's a couple of off-track walks across the road in Boonoo Boonoo NP too...which I want to do.
So I shall return soon. It's good walking weather now its cooler.

.....via tapatalk.

[Onestepmore]

Looks like a great spot.
Is that a GG pack?
And what rod is it? At first I thought it was a Ruta Locura one, but they have squishy rubber handles, not the brass end yours has.
Sorry, it's the gearus freakus in me.....

And Ben, trout season for streams in NSW is closed between the June long weekend and the Oct long weekend (spawning). it's waiting season..... :wink
(Time to make flies. I used to do all sort of crafty things like make mohair teddy brears, sew quilts, restore furniture, make preserves etc. Hubby REALLY wants me to take up fly-tying. I think I detect an underlying motive here.....)

[Onestepmore]

Oh lol. I just tried to look up this NP on the NPSW website. You have to allocate what activity ('interests') u wish to pursue.
It's complete crap!

[ofuros]

Hi Onestepmore,

Yes there's 2 sites.....I usually use this one
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Natio ... x?id=N0001
I think the other site one leads you here too, just in a convoluted way.

Correct-o-mondo,on the pack, it's a GG Mariposa (old style) as long as keep the weight under 10kg, she's all apples.
As for the rod.....its just a 2 piece spreader bar for the head end of my hammock.

Ofuros

[Onestepmore]

Ahh OK, you use a bridge hammock, like a DD or WB Riderunner or whatever. Mine's just the gathered-in asym lie type (Warbonnet Blackbird double 1.1)
Lol I got all excited there. Tenkara rod etc
I have a Mariposa too
Ty for the NP link, the stuff i found was very cumbersome

[phan_TOM]

Nice one ofuros, it's beautiful country out in the granite belt and that's a nice walk to the top of Bald Rock. I did it last year for the first time while on a long weekend at Boonoo Boonoo. It was about 5 degrees and blowing hard on top, just cut through us once we stopped moving but it was thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.
I also visited Basket Swamp on that trip & went on a walk down past the falls, well worth a visit, and then followed fire trails out to the Timbarra trig for a lunch break. It was one of those days with lots of low flying broken cloud and the view was sensational, almost like standing in a painting. There was lyrebird song along the way and he was doing the whole repertoire of native birds as well as random crazy sounds like a falling bomb whistle and what sounded like UHF radio chat. Had us chuckling
I'm off to Girraween for a few days in the next week or so, I just can't keep away from those big rocks!